Historic Elizabeth

What do Dilworth, Plaza-Midwood, Fourth Ward and Wesley Heights have that Elizabeth doesn't have? Historic District Designation. Should that change?

John Rogers of the Charlotte Historic District Commission talked to the ECA board at the October meeting. I think there's interest on the board in persuing historic designation. I also think there's a lot of opposition in the neighborhood. Last time the ECA pushed for Historic District Designation there was a lawsuit. Can we avoid that this time?

What do you think? What's good about historic designation? What's bad about it? Post a comment, or better yet join Under the Water Tower and tell us what you think.

Honda owners read this

If you drive a Honda, live in Elizabeth and don't use The Club, you are asking for your car to be stolen. Car thefts increased from 26 to 61 this year over last year according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police. Many were Hondas. I speak from experience, having my former Honda stolen not once but twice. A neighbor two doors down had hers stolen. A local mechanic showed me how easy it is to break into and start a Honda with an ordinary screwdriver. You've been warned!

Tree hacking

These trees on Bay Street were recently pruned by a Duke Power subcontractor, setting off a flurry of emails from concerned Elizabethans to Duke. Duke and the city of Charlotte agree: The trees are planted in the wrong place, badly decayed, unsightly and need to be removed. Well they're certainly unsightly now. Why is it that other cities can bury their power lines?

Neighborhood pictures

Maya Packard writes: "Ken Magas has set up a neighborhood account at www.kodakgallery.com for pictures from neighborhood events. Anyone with the password can view, add to, or create albums, so we can all share our photos from community events (like the Halloween party on Monday; Ken's album from that is already posted)."

If you'd like to know more about it, add a comment to this post and I'll give you the username and password. Of course if you'd like to post a picture or two you can do it right here at Under the Water Tower. It's easy and free and open to everyone. Add a comment to this post and I'll tell you how.

Eliza-bats

Weird people in costumes were strolling the neighborhood Monday night, and none of them were Hardin Minor. Here young McClain (Winn, please correct me if I spelled that wrong) proudly shows off his bat wings. Turnout seemed a little lighter than usual this year, perhaps because Monday night isn't the best night for trick-or-treating.

Wall coverage

This year the local paper decided not to get scooped by the New York Times. The Associated Press has more.

Pumpkin update

The official lighting of the Pumpkin Wall 2005 has been delayed until Saturday night, so there's still time to come by the Clodfelter's and carve a few. The pictures surrounding this post were all taken today. There's quite a collection of pumpkin pulchritude, so come by Saturday and let's carve.

Pumpkin wall

The wall is back, this time on Clement Avenue. The official lighting is tomorrow night. Come by, bring a pumpkin and start carving. The photo above is from last year's pumpkin wall on Lamar. Hope to have photos of this year's wall tomorrow night.

Welcome Lower Scotland

I'd like to welcome Lower Scotland Neighborhood News to the blogsphere. Looks like a great place for Eastover folks to congregate. Those of you with kids in Eastover Elementary may want to read Lower Scotland's post on this. Nice work.

Crime and history

Can you live in Elizabeth and not care about the crime here or the historic district designation? Of course not. Both are on the agenda for the next ECA board meeting, Oct. 11 at 6:30 p.m. at what used to be our neighborhood park and rec center and is now a kind of ping pong private club or something. Officer Laura Nelson and Captain Mike Campagna will talk about crime prevention and there will be a discussion of the historic district designation. All are invited, even non-ping pong players.

Elizabeth Traditional School

Peter Tart writes:

Louise Woods, our District 4 School Board representative has notified us about a rapidly approaching opportunity to expand the "Priority Zone" for Elizabeth Traditional School. She needs comments from concerned parents concerning how to "structure" the expansion to benefit as much of the Elizabeth Community as possible. I would like to get this request out to the Community as fast as possible and need to hear from any and all those who have a stake in this change. She needs to sit with some of us to plot the potential new zone as soon as tomorrow and certainly no later than Monday afternoon, and would like a representative to attend the School Board meeting with her on Tuesday.

Lousie Woods can be reached at 704.536.0335 and Peter Tart ( ECA president) can be reached at 704.372.4147 or petart@carolina.rr.com.

Hats off to Hardin

You really have to hand it to Hardin Minor for challenging an established incumbent in a primary. That's an uphill battle no matter what the office, and he got no help from the so-called liberal media. Meanwhile the rarity of Hardin's candidacy gives me another opportunity to lambaste our political setup.

Every office holder who ever voted for carving districts into safe havens for one party or the other ought to hang their heads in shame. Why was voter turnout 5% for Tuesday's primary? What's to turn out for? If you're a Republican living in a Democratic district, your vote doesn't count. You may as well stay home. Or not leave work, since election day is held on a day most people work.

Open a can of peas

During the last ECA meeting there was much talk about a can of peas. People can eat what they like, but I prefer them fresh. If not available, frozen are better than canned, in my opinion. In any event, I'm still not sure what all the fuss was about.

What's that? It wasn't "can of peas"? It was "canopy," like in tree? And the fuss was that we're rapidly losing our distinctive Elizabeth tree canopy and we should all look for places to plant large, mature trees to rebuild that canopy? Oh. Never mind then.

New comment policy

Due to comment spam I've had to turn on what Blogger.com calls "word verification" for anyone who leaves a comment. This keeps the machines from posting some of the comments you may have seen on this site (although I think I've deleted most of them). Sorry to make commenters go through that extra step.

CATS in Elizabeth

They really will put in a street car that runs up Elizabeth Avenue. Where will the stops be? What route will the trolley take to get to Central Avenue? Funny you should ask. The Charlotte Area Transit System people are meeting Sept. 27 at 6:30 p.m. to talk about the Center City Corridor. That's us. Now is your chance to review the draft plan and let them know what you think. Don't wait until they start laying track.

Lawbreakers beware

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Captain Mike Campagna had good news and bad news last night at the annual ECA covered dish dinner and meeting. Bad news: crime is up. Good news: Elizabeth will get more police resources as a result. We're apparently a "hot spot" on the police chief's list, which means he wants to know what's going on here. Let's make sure we tell him. See something unusual? Call 911. Not sure whether to call 911? Call 911. See an officer on a bicycle? Stop and talk to him and tell him what you know about the neighborhood. We can't expect them to do it alone.

Cajun Question

I understand that there is a meeting next week with Cajun Queen and their architect. What do people understand about their request for rezoning?

The fig is up

Helen Schwab, the Observer's restaurant critic, gives three stars to our own Fig Tree restaurant. That would be the same Fig Tree restaurant that won the 2005 Historic Landmark Award from the Charlotte Historic District Commission. Not only did they do a superb job renovating the Lucas House, they can cook too.

Lemonade for New Orleans

Some Elizabeth children, concerned about the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, set up a lemonade stand Saturday, with all proceeds going to the American Red Cross. They raised $176.16.

Looking for Mr. Good Contractor

Great question: Can anyone recommend good contractors that are not over-priced?" Housing values are up in part because of all the renovating people are doing. I invite all Elizabethans who have dealt with a contractor lately to make recommendations -- or warnings -- about contractors and handypersons.